Jocelin Caldwell 1/8/16 Jocelin Caldwell 1/8/16

Baby steps can change your career.

Happy New Year! There is always a lot of information in January about setting goals. With a career change it does not have to be a huge leap or a BIG GOAL. I promise. What if it just was a micro-movement that could change everything? Here is an example, I had a young client who was miserable at Starbucks. After some values work with me she moved to a small independent restaurant and she was more fulfilled. It wasn’t a different job description she needed but an environmental change.

Isn’t this great news? There may not be something wrong with your overall career choice.You might be able to make a small change to fix what is not working for you in your job.
For example, you may hate a part of your job that is only 10% of your time. Instead of looking for another opportunity in a new company the first step is to have a conversation with a supervisor or a co-worker about how to shift some duties/responsibilities around.

Through one to one coaching I can support you to look at what is really not working at work. What do you love doing that you are not doing? What do you want to do more of at work this year? Feel stuck – Let’s talk.

Jocelin Caldwell 10/16/15 Jocelin Caldwell 10/16/15

You Don’t Have to Swing at Every Pitch

My dad took me to lots of Blue Jay baseball games when I was growing up. I am not a baseball expert, but I do understand an important element of the game: deciding if/when to swing. The pitcher throws and the batter has to decide whether it is a good pitch. It’s coming across the plate and if it’s in the sweet spot and the batter knows he/she can hit it: swing! If it isn’t right or the pitch is poor the batter won’t chance it.

How many times in our lives are we presented with the opportunity to swing at, or step back from, what life sends our way? The pitches are always coming – career opportunities, relationships, professional development, family, education, etc. and your job as batter for your life is to know what to swing at and when. To understand what your sweet spot is, what an ideal pitch is for you. A lot of opportunities come up and of course you want to swing at the right ones, the ones that get you the furthest into the outfield. Sometimes, like in the real game of baseball, you don’t get all the time in the world to decide and timing is everything. If you hesitate, you strike out; if you are too aggressive, same result.

So, how do you know when to swing? Professional ball players spend years honing their instincts to the game and they are pros because of all that practice, commitment, and skill has made what they do so well appear natural. As professionals in our own right, we need to spend time doing the same thing. Instead of swinging bats and throwing balls, we are always re-evaluating our values, visions, and goals. We ask ourselves: What do I value the most? Then we add and delete these values from our “Non-Negotiable” career planning list as our life evolves. Such a list will support you in your decisions, provide you with ready and familiar knowledge for when it is swing or step aside time. You will be ready and know what to do because you have taken the time to put in writing what it is exactly you are looking for based on what matters to you most. A non-negotiables list prepares you to recognize the “perfect pitch.”

Non-negotiables might include: hours you would like to work, work environment, and location of position. People come up with vastly different non-negotiables like: I want to be able to bike to work; I want to make ‘x’ amount of money; I want to be able to travel; I want to have creativity in my work; I want to work for a big company; I want to work for myself. Think in terms of what you want (not what you don’t want) and create your list in the positive. Our time is too important to spend on what we don’t want and neither does this focus help us clarify what we do. It keeps us thinking in the negative which is the last place it serves us to be.

Whether you are searching for a new career, job, professional opportunity, or just want to shake life up a little, start with your non-negotiables. Then get ready to swing.

Jocelin Caldwell 10/2/14 Jocelin Caldwell 10/2/14

Stop Spinning Your Career Search Wheels – Informational Interviews Part One

Let’s face it deciding what to do next with your career or pounding the pavement with your resume isn’t fun. As a career coach I often speak with people spinning their wheels with either the career or job search process.

With more than 600 plus jobs out there how can it not be difficult to decide what to do next?

With more than 600 plus jobs out there how can it not be difficult to decide what to do next? One way to move forward and reduce the frustration is to set up an informational interview in the field of your choice. An informational interview can help you gain momentum in two ways.

The term “informational interviewing” comes from Richard Nelson Bolles, best-selling career guide, What Color Is Your Parachute? In his book Bolles refers to the informational interview process as “trying on jobs to see if they fit you.” It is a way to get current information about an occupation by talking to people who are working in the occupation.

It is far more informative and effective then google searching a job description. The second way an informational interview can reduce job search frustration is how fast it can lead to an offer. One out of every 200 resumes submitted results in a person getting a job while one out of every 12 informational interviews results in a job offer.

Pretty amazing, right? Stay tuned Part 2 10 Things You Should Know About Informational Interviews.

Jocelin Caldwell 9/8/14 Jocelin Caldwell 9/8/14

Boosting Your Current Resume

I recently critiqued 30 college students’ resumes and on average the majority of them had the same common mistakes (aside from being done at three in the morning after the essay for English Lit and before the 4th Red Bull). They were dull, lacked action words and selling points. All the key points bled into one another and the effect was that of one long block of text that no eye wants to tackle despite however promising the content.

Employers or recruiters initially spend very little time looking at resumes, typically only 30 seconds to 1 minute. In that short period of time your resume needs to grab his or her attention enough to call you for an interview.

Before you begin to update your current resume, sit down and figure out what sets you apart from all the other job seekers. Take a hard critical look at it and see if it offers a brief overview of your educational background, employment history. Does it reflect who you are and your unique skill set? If it doesn’t, follow the prompts below to get the re-writing process started.

List your achievements and accomplishments – these can later be turned into accomplishment statements/highlights of qualifications on your resume or cover letter. Write down the following:

1. What positive impact have you made on behalf of previous employers?

2. Where and when have you gone above and beyond quotas or expectations?

3. How do you make a difference?

Work and Volunteer History

Reflect over the past 10 years and make a list of the positions that you have held (paid or volunteer). Answer the following questions about each position.

1. What was the job description and what level of responsibilities and skills were required?